Chandler Self held a substantial lead during much of the Dallas Marathon on Sunday. But during the final stretch of the race, her legs started to give out from under her. Fortunately, as NBC Dallas-Fort Worth reports, a teenager named Ariana Luterman was following close behind and helped Self make it first across the finish line — a heartwarming show of selflessness that has made national headlines.

Luterman, who is 17 years old, was running for an elite high school relay. And when she saw Self struggling to make it to the end of the race, she did not think twice about helping her, knowing that Self had likely trained for months before the race. “I knew she had to cross that finish line before me,” Luterman said in aninterview after the marathon. “So the only thing that I could think of to do was pick her up … No way was I going to start sprinting and leave her there.”

Footage from the final moments of the race shows Luterman running alongside Self and stopping to prop her up as she falters. When they reach the finish line, Luterman gives Self a push forward to let her cross the finish line first.